Victim is remembered as devoted to her mother

NEW YORK - Julissa Brisman was remembered fondly by family and friends yesterday at a wake in New York City, with some noting her particular devotion to her mother.

Jenny Guzman, 27, who said she is Brisman's first cousin, said that Brisman had always been close to her mother, but that she had gotten separated from her family.

"A lot of times we didn't see her," Guzman said.

Edna Cales, who still lives in the Upper West Side apartment building where Brisman was raised, also recalled Brisman's relationship with her mother and noted that she was the doting owner of a small dog as well.

"She was not a hooker," Cales said. "She was a good girl. It was a bunch of lies they're saying about her."

Guzman and another cousin said Brisman was a model and aspiring actress who starred in a 2007 public service announcement for the Near Ear Foundation on the dangers of talking on a cellphone while walking on a busy street.